As some of you know, I have been without a car for awhile now, which, lemme tell ya, isn't any fun!

I had bought a 1998 GMC Yukon in the fall, from Michaels Car Center on Holland Avenue in Port Huron. First of all, I know , I know, what the hell was I thinking buying a gas guzzling SUV in such a tough economy? Well, honestly, I wasn't! I was thinking about convenience, and hauling kids, and well, I just had my head up my ass I guess.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when 8 or 9 months after buying it, it puked! I got an even BIGGER surprise when I took it for an estimate and learned that it was going to take over $2500 fix it, and that according to the mechanic and anyone else with any knowledge of vehicles, the things that were wrong, were most likely wrong WHEN I bought it. Thanks Michaels, but next , at least give me a kiss and some foreplay next time...

Well it took me a couple weeks to come up with some money to buy one, so I had time to do some comparison shopping. I had an idea of how much I was going to have to spend, so I was shooting for the best car I could get for the least money, really.

In the past I have had some dealing with Noel “Chico” Suarez , of Suarez Auto Sales in Port Huron, and I have come away pretty satisfied, so that's where my journey begins.

I drove my stuttering, spitting, leaking Yukon onto his lot, and told him exactly what my dilemma was. He took a look at it, and told me he would give me a thousand bucks for it, since I could get around $500 for taking it for scrap.

He said he wasn't sure he had anything on his lot that I could afford after hearing my price range, but that he could find me something, and in probably less then a week. Sounded pretty good to me, so I went ahead and signed the title over to him. He fished $1000.00 cash out of his pocket and handed it to me, a done deal.

On my way off the lot, he took another look around, then decided that he would have me test drive a 1998 Ford Taurus, and if I decided I wanted it, he would “take care” of me, and let me have it for the price I had quoted, which was about a grand less then what he had it priced at.

My husband and I took it for a drive, and we had a few concerns about it. It smelled like oil was burning, and it felt like the tranny was slipping at times. We told Chico about this when we got back, and he assured us it was just because it had been sitting for a long time, and since he was taking such “great care” of us, and he was so appreciative of all the business we had sent his way ( which was actually quite a bit) we took his word for it, BUT, as a condition of part of the money I was getting, the vehicle had to undergo an inspection by a certified mechanic OTHER then the one who's lot we were buying from. Now he didn't seem happy at ALL when we told him this, and tried to get out of saying that he “stands by” all his vehicles and would assure us it was mechanically sound. Sorry. Doesn't matter. So finally, he relented, and we set up a time for the following day for the inspection to be done at Fetterly's in Port Huron. He actually wrote us out a receipt for the sale of the car and everything, even though no money had been paid for it at this point.

Later that night I drove by his lot ( in a borrowed vehicle) and saw that the Taurus was still right where we had parked it earlier. This was about 8pm. At 11pm, I went to pick my husband up from work, and strangely, the Taurus was gone! Weird, huh? Well we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and went there the next day to pick it up to have it inspected, and not only was the Taurus not there, but neither was Chico! His wife, who speaks little English was there, and all she could tell us is that it was sold. Really? After the shop had closed up for the night? Sometime between 8 and 11 pm on a Monday night? That just seems a little strange to me, not to mention the fact that he had written us a RECEIPT for the damn car!

My husband called Chico's cell phone to ask what happened, and he claimed a wholesaler came through and bought up a bunch of his cars, but the Taurus seemed to be the only one missing, and I really doubt a wholesaler was going to pay him more for it then we were, ya know?

He then stated he was at an auction, bidding on cars for us, and he would call us when he had something. We STILL haven't heard from him, and it has been about a month now, so I guess he is having a tough time of it! In reality, he appears to be full of shit, and also doing some sort of shady business, and I would recommend anyone thing twice before dealing with him. Funny thing is, the more people I tell this story to, the more people I find out have been screwed over by him!

All this being said, I would now like to give Kudos to PCT Enterprises on Gratiot in Marysville, in the building formerly known as Heartland Used Auto. We were treated WONDERFULLY by them, and in the end wound up with a pretty great car for the money we paid. They had NO trouble letting us take the car to Fetterly's for the inspection, and when Fetterly's found that it needed new brakes, rotors, shoes, and pads, they actually REPLACED all of that at NO EXTRA CHARGE for us!

They held the car for us for a couple of weeks during the funding process, and they had to jump through some hoops with us, as far as faxing things and getting paperwork together, and they did it all with a smile on their faces. They might have bitched about it behind our backs, but they were all sunshine and roses to our faces, which couldn't have made me happier. SO thanks to Mike and all the friendly staff at PCT Enterprises I am now on the road again. Now if only I had somewhere to go.....

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